Pentagon condemns release of photos showing soldiers with dead Afghans

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - They are literally the pictures the Pentagon didn't want you to see. American soldiers posing with the dismembered remains of enemy suicide bombers, were published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times despite pleas from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

The White House called the photos reprehensible. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports.

"We had urged the L.A. Times not to run these photos and the reason for that is those kinds of photos are used by the enemy to incite violence," Panetta said at a press conference Wednesday.

Photos show U.S. GIs posing with dead Afghans
Losing the media war in Afghanistan
Video: Troop leaders concerned about new photos

Soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division pose with the mangled corpse of a suicide bomber in Afghanistan's Zabol province.

/ LA Times

Army investigators have had the photos for about a month and do not doubt their authenticity. Taken two years ago, they show paratroopers from the 82nd airborne, most of whom have been identified and are under investigation for violating an order governing the conduct of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

According to the paper, the photos came from a soldier who said they are evidence of a breakdown in discipline that endangered the lives of troops.

They are the latest in a string of blows to the American image in Afghanistan. In January, a video surfaced of Marine snipers urinating on dead bodies. Both sets of images stand as testament to the dehumanizing effect of war.

"This is war and I know that war is ugly and it's violent and I know that young people sometimes caught up in the moment make some very foolish decisions," said Panetta.

A soldier from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division poses with a dead insurgent's hand on his shoulder.

/ LA Times

There was also the inadvertent burning of the Quran which set off anti-American protests and the infamous case of Sgt. Robert Bales, charged with murdering 17 Afghan civilians.

But the war grinds on. The unit to which those paratroopers belonged is already back in Afghanistan for another tour.

The L.A. Times told CBS they decided that publishing the photos would "fulfill our obligation to our readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission in Afghanistan."

[alinrodneyvil]

What the Pentagon should be condemning is the actions of these thoughtless undiscilplined soidiers. What are they saying, this kind of behavior is alright as long as no one finds out about it?

[decotoguy]

I LOVE this WAR,This American Suicidal Mission called AFGHANISTAN.When that GREAT American, Leader of the FREE WORLD,the Honorable WAR HERO George W.BUSH deliberately plumged the American people into this WAR I knew it was the beginning of the END.

The Bush Administration activized a PHOBIA of FEAR, and the American people flocked to the CATHEDRAL of WILLFUL SELF-DECEPTION, to show support for his bizarre schizophrenic response.

The energy of HATE and WAR has gone GLOBAL.

I find it karmic justice,The FREE-WORLD is being ENSLAVED.

[Nikos_Retsos]

Of course the Pentagon want to keep its dirty laundry secret, but the Pentagon should focus on the discipline of its troops, and not on muzzling the media or newspaper editors with high ethical standards.

First, let me say upfront that I didn't know anything until 5:30pm today when CBS News Scot Pelly reported the story and the Pentagon -L.A. Times flap. Better yet, he said that the CBS called the L.A. Times and asked why they published the pictures - even though the Pentagon had objected. Pelly said that the editors of L.A. Times responded that (not the exact quotation) they wanted to give their readers all information -unfiltered (my word). I then decided to write and congratulate the L.A. Times editors.

Why congratulate the L.A. editors? Because burying it would have been like an ostrich digging its head in the sand! And if we (in the U.S.) decide that it is unpatriotic to report news negative to us, and glorify everything the U.S. does as virtuous, we all would live an phony bubble of our rigid imagination. There surely are Americans who feel that sweeping our war sins under the rug is an obligation! They are are wrong! Wars are not about winning battles only; it is also about winning respect and approval by other nations and the people of the world. And that is not going to come with more Mai Lai masscares, (Vietnam War) Sargent Bailes massacre (Afghanistan) urinating of dead enemies, killing Afghans and cutting and taking their fingers and ears as souvenirs, or proudly shows the body part of our deceased battle opponents! The best way to stop this kind of human degenerating behavior is to bring it out into the public, and shame those who do. If we don't, then we are not better than them!

I congratulate the L.A. editors for doing the right thing to expose this story - rather than yield to pressure and sweep it under the dirty rug of the Pentagon - supposedly in a show of patriotism. Action like the Pentagon's is what has made patriotism so phony to philosophers and other notables: a) "Patriotism is that last refuge of the scoundrel." - Samuel Johnson. b) "Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious," - Oscar Wilde. c) "Patriotism is the art of the tyrant, and the mean he uses to maintain his authority," - Aristotle. The Pentagon's effort to use "Patriotism" as a "covering tarpaulin" of this story is certainly not something we can be proud of. Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[AfroTapp]

Well said.

[ohitsubob]

The LA Times is run by treasonous bastards. They expect everyone to be shocked and appalled, but only the PC people express dismay. It seems everyone else is saying so what...it's war. Nice try LA Times. Ultimate failure by Raghead Times!

[mgunn89512]

Relax, if the public can't take it (and we should see everything) then maybe we shouldn't be there. After all we are democracy though obviously many hypocrites forget that.

[RealWorldNow]

Wish it was a democracy, it's a representative republic I do believe.... the question is who the heck is representing us?